Cat hissing way more than usual?

[Kayseymac]

My 4 year old cat went the first 4 years of his life never even hissing one time! About 3 months ago we took in a kitten and from the start they've gotten along well. They play fight here and there and they used to snuggle and groom each other but they haven’t in the last few weeks. They have been co existing pretty well.

The thing I’m concerned about is my cat is hissing all the time now!! It really just started this week. Yesterday my cat was done eating and just sitting by his empty bowl and the kitten came in his space and he hissed like 5 times. I get that because food, but he hisses almost every time my fiancé and I pick him up or pet him. I would understand him hissing at the kitten and setting boundaries but I don’t understand why he’s hissing at us. Could he be in pain? Something I thought about is my cat really likes to lay on us and cuddle but a lot of times when he tries the kitten comes and tries to play with him as soon as he started to settle with us so I’ve had nowhere near as much cuddle time with him as usual. Could That be part of the problem?

 

[maggie101]

Older they get,more territorial. Not all are like that but my cat Maggie is.

 

[CatladyJan]

My 4 year old cat went the first 4 years of his life never even hissing one time! About 3 months ago we took in a kitten and from the start they've gotten along well. They play fight here and there and they used to snuggle and groom each other but they haven’t in the last few weeks. They have been co existing pretty well.

The thing I’m concerned about is my cat is hissing all the time now!! It really just started this week. Yesterday my cat was done eating and just sitting by his empty bowl and the kitten came in his space and he hissed like 5 times. I get that because food, but he hisses almost every time my fiancé and I pick him up or pet him. I would understand him hissing at the kitten and setting boundaries but I don’t understand why he’s hissing at us. Could he be in pain? Something I thought about is my cat really likes to lay on us and cuddle but a lot of times when he tries the kitten comes and tries to play with him as soon as he started to settle with us so I’ve had nowhere near as much cuddle time with him as usual. Could That be part of the problem?

Yes, he could be in pain and the hissing may be related to that or an illness. When has he had a vet check?

 

[Jem]

I think your first step should be going to the vet. An increase in hissing and that's it's also directed to you does make me think pain or illness way more than just less cuddle time.
Is your boy neutered? When does the kitten get neutered/spayed? and how old is it now?

 

[tarasgirl06]

My 4 year old cat went the first 4 years of his life never even hissing one time! About 3 months ago we took in a kitten and from the start they've gotten along well. They play fight here and there and they used to snuggle and groom each other but they haven’t in the last few weeks. They have been co existing pretty well.

The thing I’m concerned about is my cat is hissing all the time now!! It really just started this week. Yesterday my cat was done eating and just sitting by his empty bowl and the kitten came in his space and he hissed like 5 times. I get that because food, but he hisses almost every time my fiancé and I pick him up or pet him. I would understand him hissing at the kitten and setting boundaries but I don’t understand why he’s hissing at us. Could he be in pain? Something I thought about is my cat really likes to lay on us and cuddle but a lot of times when he tries the kitten comes and tries to play with him as soon as he started to settle with us so I’ve had nowhere near as much cuddle time with him as usual. Could That be part of the problem?

Your cat could be transferring his normal and natural territorial/hierarchical behavior to establish dominance with the kitten to you both. Or not. Every cat does need a vet check, baseline innoculations and spaying/neutering. If he hasn't had these yet, lining up an appointment for them would be my first course of action, and you can ask the vet about the hissing.

 

[Kayseymac]

I think your first step should be going to the vet. An increase in hissing and that's it's also directed to you does make me think pain or illness way more than just less cuddle time.
Is your boy neutered? When does the kitten get neutered/spayed? and how old is it now?

Hey! Sorry- I just realized this post got responses. He is hissing less since I made this post, but is still sometimes hissing. I did not hear him hiss for several days, but I just heard him hiss twice when my fiancé picked him up to cuddle him. To be fair, the cat was settled and napping when disturbed.
He is neutered. The kitten is getting spayed February 22nd. We took him to the vet a little over a month ago because he went two days without eating and had diarrhea. Vet did X rays, blood work, etc. Vet had no idea what was wrong. Luckily the issue remediated itself. That’s the last time he was checked by a vet.

 

[Kayseymac]

Your cat could be transferring his normal and natural territorial/hierarchical behavior to establish dominance with the kitten to you both. Or not. Every cat does need a vet check, baseline innoculations and spaying/neutering. If he hasn't had these yet, lining up an appointment for them would be my first course of action, and you can ask the vet about the hissing.

Sorry for the late reply. Thank you for the response! He is neutered. He had a full check up about a month ago because he was not eating- blood work, x ray, etc. Everything turned up fine and the issue fixed itself. He had a clean bill of health at the time.

 

[vince]

One of mine got to be a hisser over time. It's usually related to being disturbed. His companion cats will get up from sleeping in a pile and he'll hiss. If he's sitting on my lap, he'll hiss at me if I get up. I am expected to ask or at least warn him if I'm getting up. He'll his at the others if they encroach on whatever space he occupies at the moment. He's just a grump. Otherwise, he's quite closely bonded with the other cats. The vet said he's fine, too.

I don't think anything in particular is wrong with your cat. He may just be reinforcing limits to the new kitty.